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Ghana is due to start commercial production of oil by the end of the year.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

Ghana’s largest oil field, the Jubilee oil field has been up for grabs, and oil majors from across the world are falling over each other to grab it. And now it is the South Koreans.

Since Komos Energy put up their stake in the Jubilee field for sale, Ghana has been in the spotlight, as major oil companies including state-owned companies shove each other aside to acquire the stake.

In July 2009, the Indian state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), expressed interest in buying Kosmos Energy’s stake in the field.

And then in August 2009, the Chinese revealed their interest in the field. The China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) showed keen interest in buying the stake. The Chairman of CNOOC, Fu Chengyu told the Reuters news service that China was bidding for the stake. “We are participating in the bid,” he was reported to have said. The bid was put at $3 billion to $5 billion.

In the heat of the melee, speculations became rife that Ghana favoured a China deal.

But in October 2009, Kosmos agreed to sell the stake to its Texas neighbour, US oil giant ExxonMobil for a $4 billion deal.

The ExxonMobil deal however was never sealed because it required the approval of the government of Ghana. The government declined to approve the deal because, it said Kosmos broke the law when it opened its data room to ExxonMobil against the established law that says that partners in the field must be given the first option to buy if one decides to sell.

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) offered to buy the stake. According to the GNPC, it had secured funding from some banks to buy the stake.

Now Reuters reports that South Korea’s national oil company says it wants to buy the stake. Indeed, South Korea has made strong showings in Ghana lately. The Vice President of Ghana recently visited the country, where the Korean President, Lee Myung-bak said his country was interested in assisting Ghana to develop its energy sector.

A Korean construction company STX, has been awarded a contract to build $10 billion worth of houses in Ghana.

In the Reuters report, the director of production at the GNPC, Thomas Manu was quoted as saying, “They have expressed interest in everything — exploration, production and all the potential downstream activities.”

He reportedly said discussions between the Korea National Oil Corporation and Ghana are at preliminary stages. He indicated that the Koreans are interested in buying part of the stake if the GNPC acquires it from Kosmos.

Ghana is due to start commercial production of oil by the end of the year.